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Reviews
Män som hatar kvinnor (2009)
Decent but becomes progressively less interesting
I basically enjoyed this film, as reflected in my rating but it is certainly flawed.
My preconception before watching the film, based upon the images of the main character, was that this was quite possibly a film that gets a lot of it's traction from the beauty of it's female star - dressed up in that Gothic she's-a-bit-disturbed kind of Matrix chic.
I was pleasantly surprised that the eponymous character does actually have some depth, and didn't have me groaning at tank grrrl clichés too often.
The film then heads off into what seem to me kind of interesting waters and is gearing up to be intelligent, well-paced, suspenseful and unconventional.
The problems arise when the film starts tying the mysteries up. The kind of devices that you would dismiss in a TV drama as being clichés, start surfacing with alarming regularity... It becomes more difficult to suspend your credibility... Things take on an increasingly BBC 2 Poirot kind of feel.
Then when you feel that the story has been told, the film continues for another unnecessary 20 minutes or so, most of that time spent spelling things out in a slightly patronising way..
The final scene seems well and truly out of place. People may say that "if you read the book it all makes sense"... Maybe, but this isn't the book, and the film needs to stand on it's own two feet.
So I would say this is half a good film, and half a late night TV murder mystery. Worth seeing but doesn't live up to the hype in my opinion.
The Good Shepherd (2006)
No suspense or drama, lots of exposition.
To be completely honest, I have not managed to watch all of this film. I gave up after about 45 minutes.
It seems to me that the film has zero suspense or drama. Most of the scenes seemed to just be exposition. The pacing of the film seems to be completely even throughout - it doesn't matter what is happening on-screen - the editing is exactly the same, the shots are the same, etc...
For example, the film opens up with a quick succession of set-up scenes, to introduce you to the character and the situation at the time. A few short scenes with expository dialogue. Problem, is, it turns out not to just be an intro - the entire film is like this.
De Niro may be a great actor, but this is an extremely tedious film.
French Connection II (1975)
Hackman very good, film a bit tedious
Watched this last night on BBC1.
I remember the first film as a tightly scripted, well-paced thriller. The sequel is a disappointment, and as a few others have said, certainly comes across as unnecessary.
None of the characters are very well developed. The story provides Gene Hackman with plenty of opportunity to show off his acting chops - he's a very convincing drunk, for sure. The middle-section of the film makes his character go through something of a personality transformation, but it seems a bit pointless, and is stretched out for way too long.
The French policeman who Hackman deals with throughout the film is characterised as a bit of a cardboard cut-out, with quite a lot of hackneyed fish-out-of water stuff. I didn't watch long enough to check whether the two cops earn a grudging respect for each other.
Eventually, Gene Hackman's charisma and acting weren't enough to make up for a lack of tension, I got bored, and switched off.
Not a terrible, film, or even bad, but just a bit boring.
Ôdishon (1999)
Good film, not as extreme as I expected
The main reason I saw this film was because I kept on hearing reviews saying that it was incredibly extreme horror, how people found it unbearable to watch, fainted during screenings, etc.
I thought, this is a film I must see, since I've not yet had to stop a film due to being grossed out or scared, or at least not in my adult life.
In fact it isn't really as hardcore as I had been led to believe. If you've seen films like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or even a recent mainstream horror film, then you're probably going to be able to handle this. It's just a bit more sadistic.
It's perhaps a shame that it has such a horror reputation. Judging by the video sleeve (girl with syringe), this looks like it's going to be a cheap gore-fest. Actually it's quite a classy film. The first three quarters build the tension very well, with a subtle script, good performances, and so on. It's an interesting movie, treading an unusual line between drama, thriller and horror, before eventually deciding to be an all out horror flick in the last quarter.
My main disappointment would be that I actually preferred the first parts of the film to the horror last parts. It's shaping up as a fascinating psychological thriller.
Asami's character is being developed into a very interesting one, who you feel sympathetic for at the same time as afraid of. The relationship between the hero (whos name I forget) and Asami is very well presented. It's a bit of a shame perhaps that in the end she is basically reduced to a psycho slasher, and the nuance is dumped as a result.
Definitely worth a look. I'll probably watch it again.
Riders (2002)
unintentionally funny, dire script
Just watched this film the other day on BBC. The write-up in the paper said something like: "a group of extreme sports-people undertake a series of heists". I immediately though that this sounded like film-making by committee. Someone thought it would be a pretty good idea to stick a load of "totally wack" young "X-treme" sports-people into a film with explosions and stuff. Unfortunately someone then has to find a way of linking the inevitable bungee jumps and climbing shenanigans with a plot, script and characters.
Oops.
This film is completely and utterly stupid. The characters make absolutely no sense, are complete clichés, and are bound by a really funny script.... At times it feels like a spoof, though unfortunately I think we are actually supposed to take it seriously.
If you are a connoisseur of really bad, cheesy films, you won't be disappointed by this.
My highlight has to be Stephen Berkoff, whose accent is hilariously erratic.